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Definition of complain of phrasal verb from the Oxford Advanced American Dictionary

 

complain of

 phrasal verb
phrasal verb
 
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Phrasal Verbs

complain of something

 
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to say that you feel sick or are suffering from a pain She left early, complaining of a headache. Thesauruscomplain
  • protest
  • object
  • grumble
  • whine
These words all mean to say that you are annoyed, unhappy, or not satisfied about someone or something.
  • complain to say that you are annoyed, unhappy, or not satisfied about someone or something:I'm going to complain to the manager about this.
  • protest to say or do something to show that you disagree with or disapprove of something, especially publicly; to give something as a reason for protesting:Students took to the streets to protest (against) the decision.
  • object to say that you disagree with or disapprove of something; to give something as a reason for objecting:Unless you object, we'll postpone the meeting till next week. He objected to being treated like a child.
  • grumble (somewhat informal, disapproving) to complain about someone or something in a bad-tempered way:They kept grumbling about the cold.
  • whine (somewhat informal, disapproving) to complain in an annoying, crying voice:Stop whining! What is he whining about now? Whine is often used to talk about the way that young children complain.
Patterns
  • to complain/protest/grumble/whine about something
  • to complain/protest/object/grumble/whine to somebody
  • to complain/protest/object/grumble/whine that…
See complain of in the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary